The VERB - June '08

CLEANING UP PROSE

Hyphens are short horizontal lines used to connect words. Some writers never use them, other writers insert them in almost every sentence. What should and should not be hyphenated is continually changing, so staying on top of its current usage can be a bit frustrating.

Shoot for clarity. Does this hyphen help the reader understand what is meant?

EXAMPLE:
The fact is, Marlin, the coop won't go through without Mr. Wassermann's help.

CLEANED UP:
The fact is, Marlin, the co-op won't go through without Mr. Wassermann's help.

EXAMPLE:
What'll we do? If she doesn't resign the contract, we're left out to dry.

CLEANED UP:
What'll we do? If she doesn't re-sign the contract, we're left out to dry.

EXAMPLE:
It's another I'm not talking to you day.

CLEANED UP:
It's another I'm-not-talking-to-you day.

EXAMPLE:
They laughed until they realized the teenager had captured three foot spiders.

CLEANED UP:
They laughed until they realized the teenager had captured three-foot spiders.

OUR CURRENT CONTEST

A well-paced story is impossible to put down. As soon as one conflict is resolved, another one rears its ugly head. It’s the stuff that keeps us up all night, turning pages.

What's the speed of your storytelling?

Give us a tale set in the past, present or future. We don’t care where he goes or how she gets there, but your lead character must hit three cities within the span of the story. On your mark, get set, pace it!

Entry Fee: Nada Length: 2,000 words

Grand Prize
$100
Story published in The VERB
One Opinion, also published in The VERB
Signed copy of Elizabeth Guy's book
Making A Scene with Mush Pump and Ice Noodle

Complete details at the Contest Cafe.

SAMPLE OF EXCELLENCE

They discovered that their training and experience had been remarkably similar and each detected, with much relief, that the other did not think of himself as a Great Surgeon.

"Hawkeye," Captain Forrest said after a while. "Do y'all realize that this is amazing?"

"What's amazing?"

"I mean, I come from Forrest City, Georgia, and y'all are a Yankee from that Horseapple ..."

"Crabapple."

"Crabapple Cove in Maine, and we've got so much in common."

"Duke," Hawkeye said, holding up the bottle and noting that its contents were more than half depleted, "we haven't got as much of this in common as we used to."

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